May 2023 Grocery Challenge

MissRikkiC

I just got this notification too @Thevalueofless and was pleasantly surprised. I for one dont think your approach is too much, but about 12 months ago my OH would have said similar to yours. He gets it now so maybe give him time. 

Those FF sound delicious @Suffolk_lass and since i cant have steak right now, they might be a nice sub here too!

I have £19 odd left still vs my update this time last week. Hub wants approx £8 from that though as he bought snacks and a reed diffuser (!) last week for 'us'. Couple that with a need for a few bits i dont think ill have much left over. I really wanted to keep £10 aside an extra challenge and im certain that if i didnt have the unplanned purchases to account for, we'd have managed but i guess we're still within the target.

Cocobeans

Had an @sda delivery yesterday for the week which kept me in budget but there were some items missing. I felt really poorly yesterday so couldn't face walking to Mr Ts to buy the missing items with my clubcard points to stay in budget so went to the corner shop. Have now gone over budget with over a week to go but now the challenge is to go over by as little as possible! 

£279.56 / £275 spent

joedenise

Another small spend of just over £6 today as needed some fruit as hardly any left and we have fruit and yoghurt as dessert most days, although it's more like supper as usually leave it a hour or so after dinner!  Also wanted to make a lasagne for dinner tomorrow and some to freeze and checked how many lasagne sheets I'd got in the cupboard and there was just 3 sheets left so also needed to buy a pack of those.  Total spends to date are £97.89/£150 leaving £43.09.  Happy with this as away for a few days soon so shouldn't need much more shopping if any before the end of the month.

GreenFairy

Tesco run at the weekend for fruit and veg, lunchbox stuff, soft drinks, a couple of freezer bits, kid snacks, lasagne sheets, coconut milk and some beer, and I'm up to €483.18 for the month so far, with 9 days til payday.

Keeping a running total instead of just totting up receipts at month end definitely seems to be having an effect!

Getting ahead of myself for the week at the moment, or trying to. Made beef ragu with freezer mince yesterday. being turned into two lasagnes today (one for tonight, one for the freezer). I've got a chicken korma simmering for tomorrow, so I'll just have to make rice. I roasted off some softening peppers, a sad courgette, an aubergine, and two onions as well, and they'll do in wraps and salads for lunch for a couple of days. 

Soontobeoap

Really rummaging around the store cupboard and freezer now. Determined to stay in budget this month. Need to recover from big spends last month. Cupboards look a bit bare and freezer has 2 empty shelves but it has given me time to regroup. Hopefully won't need to spend much more before Sunday when I start on Junes budget. 

Verulamium_Vixen

I decided to post my updates weekly instead of more frequently so as not to clutter the thread. I will update my signature every couple of days instead. .
At the end of the first week (I'm going 15th to 14th to match my pay cycle) I have spent £195/750. That includes a large Custco spend and a number of TGTG surprise bags. I've had lots of veg and bread but also a fair number of cakes which are a great treat for the twins currently doing their GCSE's. I'm trying to get them to be quite chilled and not overstress themselves. 
For instance, with maths last week I reminded them that for at least the last 2,000 years great minds have been looking for the value of X. If they haven't found it why should anyone expect a 16 year old girl to find it.
They had chemistry today ( yuk, we're not a science household) and have English tomorrow,  much more civilised. 
Anyway,  I have had to curtail TGTG as there is no more space in the freezer.
No big shops planned until a trip to Custco next week ( half term, is that a mistake?) and possibly a trip to Aldi toward the end of the month. 
All we really need until then is milk.
I am reading everything but not posting. This challenge is a great way for me to really think about my spending, heaven know what it would be otherwise. 
VV

mumtoomany

Have now got great niece and great nephew staying for the next three weeks. Took them out on sunday, and called into Morrisons. Picked up a few bits of salad, some crisps and cereal. Today we had to go to town for chicken feed. Picked up fruit, biscuits, cheese, crisps, carrots and mushrooms. 

Total spent, £36.85. Total to date is £966.47. 

I'm changing the amount for the year. DD1 and her family are going to buy and cook the majority of their meals from now on. They want to get into the swing of it ready for when the new house is finished, and they move next door. They will still give me £25 per month to cover things such as, toilet roll, dishwasher tablets, flour, meals I cook for the children when they are both at work, (only once a week or less) etc. 

The new total for the year will be £1860. So I've spent £966.47/£1860. I've a little less than half left to last the rest of the year. But now I'm, mostly, only feeding two of us, plus visitors.

Both freezers are still full to the brim and all the cupboards are heaving. Got given lamb breast, ribs, and offal yesterday, by our neighbour. They won't eat these. I gave them a bag of dried milk, (sheep milk) and a jar of lime marmalade. Love this bartering lifestyle.

Hugs to all, mumtoomany.xxx

Nelliegrace

May budget £150, £123.10 spent, £26.90 left

A quick shop at Aldi on the way home as it looked quiet, as I had to go for routine chemo blood tests. Horribly hot wearing a mask again.

Fresh milk, long life milk, evap, and some fresh fruit.
No dawdling, we have everything else in stock. Shopping is cheaper and quicker on my own. 

£11.23 spent.
Not sure when I will be shopping next. DH had a positive LFT this morning. 

KajiKita

@Nelliegrace - bad luck on OH’s LFT ….

I am declaring the month at £656.84 which is 109% of budget. Not brilliant but waaaay better than last month at £793! 😳

Managed to get offered a M0rrisons £15 off voucher for an online or collected shop. They never used to deliver to us here so we will try it for one delivery this coming Saturday (after payday on Thursday) and see how we go. Mr KK is cooking tea whilst I have been loading up our ‘usuals’ as of course we have no ‘favourites’ in M0rrisons. 

This £15 off offer is a lead into getting a further £20 across three further deliveries but it looks like you have to sign up to a subscription which I am a bit wary of …

KK

MissRikkiC

Spend at aldeee last night of £12ish to cover toilet rolls, bread, a few salad bits and some fruit. I also for myself a jar of biscuit spread. We are dairy free, soya oat and beef free due to my sons allergies so the fact they have a nice spread without those in (obviously beef 😂) makes a nice change to peanut butter. 

I still haven’t covered the £8 for hub yet…. Will see if he notices as his spends replenish on Thursday so he might not care 😂